Assemblable trash storage apparatus for holding trash/grocery bags

ABSTRACT

A multi-compartment trash storage apparatus assembled from individual components comprising two flat side pieces and a plurality of connecting panels. Each of the side pieces comprises a vertical bar and a plurality of panels projecting at an angle from the vertical bar and disposed one below the other. The panels include a plurality of slots along their bottom, front and back edges. The connecting panels are rectangular comprising top, bottom and a pair of side edges. The side edges are adapted to be snapped in the slots in order to connect the two side pieces and form a plurality of compartments. The assembled apparatus is self-standing and the compartments are located one below the other, inclined at an angle to facilitate easy access and adapted to receive conventional plastic or paper grocery bags.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

None

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not Applicable

SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL

Portions of the disclosure of this patent document contain material thatis subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objectionto the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or thepatent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office fileor records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates in general to recyclable and refusestorage, more particularly to multi-container trash storage apparatuses,and more particularly to a trash storage apparatus that can be assembledto form a multi-compartment structure for holding a plurality ofconventional plastic or paper bags that are used for storing recyclablewaste.

Trash disposal is an everyday activity. Often, it must be sorted intocategories of recyclable materials such as plastic, paper and aluminumprior to delivery to a recycling facility. Typically, each separatecategory of recyclable trash must be stored in a separate freestandingtrashcan. This requires the use of several trashcans for storingdifferent categories of recyclable material, which occupies a lot ofspace. Vertically stacked multi-container trash storage apparatusesconserve space and conveniently organize recyclables.

Several trash storage apparatuses have been developed in the art. Forexample, Intl. App. EP0979784 to Cavaliere discloses a refuse receptaclefor selective sorting of household trash. The receptacle is a verticalstructure comprising a plurality of compartments located one above theother. The compartments are open at the front. Each compartment isadapted to receive a tilting inner container lined with a plastic bag toreceive the waste. The compartmental structure, along with the method ofaccessing the containers by tilting differs from the present invention.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,301 to Brady discloses a vertical unitizedcompartmentalized separation/holding container for sorting anddiscarding various materials for recycling purposes. The containercomprises a plurality of sloped rhomboid compartments located one abovethe other. Each compartment receives a plastic bag, where sundryrecyclable materials are stored. The compartments can be accessedthrough a plurality of pull down doors located at the front of thevertical container. The floor of the last compartment is substantiallyflat for storing newspapers and the like. The vertical compartmentalstructure and the pull down doors for accessing the compartments makethis apparatus distinguishable from the present invention.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,587 to Brown discloses an apparatus for storingrecyclable waste. The apparatus comprises a plurality of wastecontainers and a rack including a plurality of horizontally disposedsupport bars. The containers include hooks on their rear panels, whichare used to suspend them onto the support bars. The containers areremovable from the rack and are inclined at an angle when suspended onthe support bars to provide easy access.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,704 to O'Malley discloses a trash containersupporting apparatus that includes a frame and a plurality of trashcontainer supports pivotally interconnected to the frame and adapted toreceive and support a plurality of trash containers. The frame alsoincludes wheels and a combination handle and stand for moving theapparatus. The frame may be tilted between a generally vertical positionfor conservation of space and a horizontal position while the trashcontainers remain in a generally vertical position to retain the trash.Although Brown and O'Malley include a plurality of inclined trashreceiving containers one below the other, they cannot be easily andcompletely disassembled as in the case of the present invention.

Generally, trash storage apparatuses comprising multiple compartments orbins cannot be completely disassembled. For this reason, transportingthem and storing them when not in use requires a lot of space.Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a multiunit trash storage apparatus that can be completely assembled ordisassembled from individual components.

A further object is to provide a trash storage apparatus that can beeasily assembled to form a stand alone and multi-compartment structure.

A further object is to provide a trash storage apparatus that helps incategorizing recyclable trash.

Finally, it is an object to provide a trash storage apparatus thatincludes a plurality compartments adapted to receive conventionalplastic or paper grocery bags to store recyclable trash. These and otherobjects of the present invention will become better understood withreference to the appended Summary, Description, and Claims.

SUMMARY

The present invention is a trash storage apparatus that can be assembledfrom individual components comprising two identical vertical side piecesand a plurality identical connecting panels. Each side piece is flat,comprising a vertical bar, a plurality of panels projecting at an anglefrom the vertical bar and a base member at the bottom. The side panelsare substantially rectangular and are defined by a front side edge, aback side edge, a top edge, and a bottom edge. The panels include aplurality of slots along their front side, back side and bottom edges.

The connecting panels are rectangular and are defined by a top edge, abottom edge and a pair of side edges. The side edges are adapted to besnapped in the slots of the side pieces. The two side pieces areconnected by snapping the side edges of the connecting panels in thecorresponding slots of the side pieces to form multiple compartments.Each compartment is accessible from the top and is defined by twocorresponding panels of the side pieces and a plurality of connectingpanels.

When fully assembled, the apparatus is self-standing and thecompartments are vertically stacked and are inclined at an angle foreasy access. The compartments are adapted to receive conventional paperor plastic grocery bags. The multi-compartment structure of the presentinvention helps in categorizing recyclable trash.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective views of the trash storage apparatus ofthe present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the side piece in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the flat panel in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 5 shows all the side pieces and connecting panels required to formthe three compartment apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the trash storage apparatus holdingconventional grocery bags.

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the trash storage apparatus.

FIGURES—REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   10 . . . Trash Storage Apparatus-   11A . . . First Side Piece-   11B . . . Second Side Piece-   12 . . . Connecting Panel-   13 . . . Vertical Bar-   14A . . . Bottom Panel-   14B . . . Middle Panel-   14C . . . Top Panel-   15 . . . Short Horizontal Bar-   16 . . . Base Member-   17 . . . Front Side Edge of the Panel-   18 . . . Back Side Edge of the Panel-   19 . . . Top Edge of the Panel-   20 . . . Bottom Edge of the Panel-   21 . . . Triangular Hole-   22 . . . Elongated Hole-   23 . . . Slot-   24 . . . Top Edge of the Connecting Panel-   25 . . . Bottom Edge of the Connecting Panel-   26 . . . Left Side Edge of the Connecting Panel-   27 . . . Right Side Edge of the Connecting Panel-   28 . . . Tab-   29 . . . Compartment-   30 . . . Paper Grocery Bag-   31 . . . Plastic Grocery Bag-   32 . . . Projection

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the drawings, a preferred embodiment of a trash storageapparatus that can be assembled from individual components isillustrated and generally indicated as 10 in FIGS. 1 through 7. Theapparatus 10 when assembled comprises a plurality of open compartmentsadapted to receive conventional grocery bags for categorizing andstoring recyclable trash. The apparatus comprising three compartments isused for descriptive purposes.

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 3, the three compartment apparatus 10 isformed by assembling two flat vertical side pieces 11, first and second,and fourteen connecting panels 12. Each side piece 11 is comprised of avertical bar 13, three side panels 14, a short horizontal bar 15 and abase member 16, as seen in FIG. 3. The side panel 14 is substantiallyrectangular comprising a front side edge 17, a back side edge 18, a topedge 19 and a bottom edge 20. The side panels 14 project at an anglefrom the vertical bar 13 and are stacked one above the other.Preferably, the side panels 14 are inclined at an angle of approximately60 degrees from the horizontal. The horizontal bar 15 connects the topportions of the vertical bar 13 and the back side edge 18 of the topmostpanel. The base member 16 is L-shaped and is in connection with thebottommost panel and the vertical bar. The connections between the threepanels 14, the vertical bar 13, the horizontal bar 15 and the basemember 16 leave triangular holes 21 in the side pieces.

Still referring to FIG. 3, the panels 14 further include two elongatedholes 22 on their surfaces and a plurality of slots 23 along their frontside 17, back side 18 and bottom edges 20. The top edge 19 of each panel14 includes two projections 32. The middle and bottom panels have equalnumber of slots. Specifically, for the middle and bottom panels, fourslots 23 are disposed along the front side edges 17, a pair of slotsalong the back side edge 18, and a pair of slots along the bottom edge20. The pair of slots is defined by two slots 23 adjacently located onbelow the other. The four slots on the front side edges 17 are dividedinto two pairs of slots. The topmost panel is similar to other twopanels except that it includes four slots disposed along its back sideedge 18, which are also divided into two pairs. The top portions of thevertical bars also include a pair of slots 23.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, all the connecting panels 12 are identical,flat, and rectangular comprising a top edge 24, a bottom edge 25, a leftside edge 26 and a right side edge 27. The left and right side edgesinclude a pair of tabs 28 that are adapted to be securely received orsnapped into any pair of slots 23 in the side pieces. The tabs 28 extendoutwardly from the side edges 26 and 27.

In order to assemble, the first and second side pieces 11 are connectedby the connecting panels 12. The pair of tabs 28 on the left side edges26 of the connecting panels is inserted into a pair of slots 23 of thefirst side piece 11A and the pair of tabs 28 on the right side edges 27is inserted into corresponding pair of slots 23 of the second side piece11B. In detail, as an example, the pair of tabs 28 on the left sideedges 26 of a connecting panel is inserted into the pair of slots 23along the bottom edge 20 of the bottom panel of the first side piece 11Aand the pair of tabs 28 on the right side edges 27 of the sameconnecting panel is inserted into the pair of slots 23 along the bottomedge 20 of the bottom panel of the second side piece 11B. One of theconnecting panels is also connected between the pair of slots on top ofthe vertical bar 13. In this way, all the fourteen panels are insertedin the slots to form a fully assembled apparatus, as shown in FIGS. 1and 2. The apparatus 10 is self-standing and is supported on the basemembers 16.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the assembled apparatus 10 comprises threecompartments 29 that are inclined at an angle of approximately 60degrees, allowing easy access. The bottom and middle compartments aredefined by the bottom and middle panels 14A and 14B of the two sidepieces, respectively, and four connecting panels 12. The top compartmentis defined by top panels 14C of the two side pieces and five connectingpanels 12.

The compartments 29 are adapted to receive conventional paper 30 orplastic 31 grocery bags to store recyclable trash, as shown in FIG. 6.The projections 32 on the top edges 19 of the panels 14 are used to holdplastic grocery bags after they are received in the compartments 29. Theapparatus facilitates in categorizing and storing recyclable trash inrespective compartments.

Several patterns and designs of the triangular and elongated holes 21and 22 in the apparatus are possible, without compromising the requiredinclination of the compartments for easy access. The apparatus 10 mayalso be adapted to multiple compartments other than three.

All features disclosed in this specification, including any accompanyingclaims, abstract, and drawings, may be replaced by alternative featuresserving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly statedotherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each featuredisclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent orsimilar features.

Any element in a claim that does not explicitly state “means for”performing a specified function, or “step for” performing a specificfunction, is not to be interpreted as a “means” or “step” clause asspecified in 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph 6. In particular, the use of“step of” in the claims herein is not intended to invoke the provisionsof 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph 6.

Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shownand described, various modifications and substitutions may be madethereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.Accordingly, it is to be understood that the present invention has beendescribed by way of illustration and not limitation.

1. A multi-compartment grocery bag holder comprising a. two verticalside members; and b. a plurality of panel members that engage the sidemembers, so that when connected, the panel members form a verticallycoplanar series of open ended receptacles; wherein the side memberscomprise the sides of the receptacles, and the panel members comprisethe top, bottom and rear of the receptacles.
 2. The holder of claim 1,wherein the panel members engage the side members in a manner so thatsloped receptacles are created.
 3. The holder of claim 1, wherein theside members have a means for holding a plastic grocery bag disposed onopposite sides of the open ended receptacles.
 4. The holder of claim 3,wherein the means for holding a plastic grocery bag comprises tabsdisposed on the side members.
 5. The holder of claim 1, wherein thepanel members engage the side members using a tab and slot mechanism. 6.The holder of claim 1, wherein at least one stabilizing connector memberconnects the side members at the rear of the grocery bag holder.
 7. Theholder of claim 1, wherein each side of a receptacle except the openside comprises of at least one, or a plurality of panel members.
 8. Theholder of claim 1, wherein the panel members are held in place by theside members.
 9. The holder of claim 1, wherein the panel members can beinstalled, removed and re-installed multiple times.
 10. The holder ofclaim 1, wherein the panel members can be connected to and removed fromthe side members without the use of tools.
 11. The holder of claim 1,wherein the holder can be assembled from the minimum number of panelsnecessary to create at least one receptacle.
 12. The holder of claim 1,wherein the dimensions of the receptacles created by the panel membersand side members form the compartments that receive paper and plasticgrocery bags.
 13. The holder of claim 1, wherein the panel members areinterchangeable and can be installed in any position between the sidemembers to form a receptacle.
 14. The holder of claim 6, wherein thepanel members are interchangeable with any stabilizing connector members15. The holder of claim 1, wherein the holder comprises threereceptacles when the panel members are connected.
 16. The holder ofclaim 4, wherein a total of fourteen connecting panels are used toassemble the apparatus comprising three compartments.
 17. The holder ofclaim 1, wherein the side members comprise to flat dimensions at a 90degree angle to facilitate placing the holder on a floor and against awall.
 18. The holder of claim 1, wherein the receptacles are disposed atan angle so that the open end of each receptacle faces up and away fromthe holder.
 19. The holder of claim 18, wherein the receptacles areinclined at an angle between 45 and 60 degrees from the horizontal. 20.The holder of claim 1, wherein the side members and panel members aremade of any material from the list of materials comprising plastic,resin, wood or metal.